Ticket scam may put conman back in jailOct 8 2005
Paul Rowland, Western Mail
A TEENAGE fraudster, who was jailed just five months ago for conning eBay users out of thousands of pounds, is facing jail for a second time - for tricking more internet customers out of treasured Wales rugby tickets.
Self-confessed eBay addict, 18-year-old Phillip Shortman, made £8,000 from selling bogus rugby tickets on the popular internet auction site to fans desperate to see Wales win the Grand Slam.
Prosecutor Rob Vernon said, "Shortman knew that fans were trying to get their hands on match tickets. He even told one customer he was the nephew of Welsh rugby legend Graham Price and that's how he came by the ticket.
"Another victim was duped out of £600 for a pair of tickets while a woman in London handed over £380 for two non-existent match tickets."
Shortman had been sentenced to 12 months youth custody at Cardiff Crown Court in May after admitting 21 counts of obtaining property by deception and asking for 63 other offences to be taken into consideration. He had made more than £45,000 from ripping off around 100 online shoppers on the popular internet auction site eBay...
When he was originally charged Shortman was banned from using the internet while on bail.
But he was so addicted he could not stop and immediately saw a new opportunity. The Welsh rugby team was on the verge of its first Grand Slam in 28 years - fans were clamouring for tickets.
He offered tickets for Wales's deciding game with Ireland on eBay and had a huge response.
Tickets for the match had a face value of up to £42 but Shortman was asking £300 even though he did not have any to sell.
He also sold a debenture which guarantees seats for all rugby matches at the stadium for up to 50 years.
Shortman told police he was "addicted" to selling goods on the internet that did not exist. He said it gave him "a buzz".
A report by Which? earlier this year suggested there were 200 cases of fraud on the UK site every day. EBay claim just 0.01% of transactions are dishonest.
"The site has an estimated 135m registered users, with around 44m items listed on it worldwide.
ONE of eBay fraudster Shortman's latest victims, Nick Price, 42, a Welshman living in Cheshire, yesterday told how he fell victim to Shortman's internet dealings.
Sales director Mr Price paid £7,000 to Shortman for a debenture ticket at the Millennium Stadium because he was desperate to see the last game of Wales' Grand Slam season.
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